Four years ago, I made my Northwest Flower & Garden Show debut with a Northwest nautical container garden display I called Seaside Succulents. Creating that garden was one of the most intensely creative experiences of my life, and I couldn't wait to do something like that again. Then life got crazy, and it took a few years to reach a new kind of normal.

This year, I felt ready to go back to the show. I envisioned a botanical bakery, with a pastry case full of succulent tarts and moss ball truffles and planty cakes. I scoured Craigstlist for a vintage bakery case or a cool old stove. But this still wasn't the year for something so major, and I almost backed off completely until Robin Haglund, my garden coach of many years, suggested I enter the Floral Design competition, and I started to have a vision of one fabulous cake.

I'd planted cakes before, for my own garden and as centerpieces for a friend's wedding. I'd been collecting vintage cake pans for years and still love that look, but the show called for something more elegant, more of a statement. I needed height, I needed to integrate some seriously awesome cut flowers, and I needed to know that I could pull it all off.

I decided to head to Portland, to the studio of Francoise Weeks, for her 3-day Wedding Design Workshop. Francoise is astonishingly resourceful and inventive--she can take basic materials like cardboard and Saran wrap and use them as the basis for transcendent floral magic. I learned a lot of technique, but more importantly, I internalized her inventive spirit and came away with the confidence that I could do it.

So I bought wire mesh and cutters. I gathered wood and metal plates, platters, and pedestals. I went on long walks, picking up stray moss and lichen on sidewalks and in alleys. Finally, I started to build, using duct tape and glue and wire reinforcements. I ordered a big box of moss and covered my form. Debra Prinzing told me about Floral Soil, an organic alternative to Oasis floral foam, and I drove to Bellingham to get a box. I realized it looked like chocolate cake when I cut into it, so I cut it in wedges and put it on a cute plate.

Over two weeks, I kept adding little details to the cake--tiny turkey tail mushrooms, seams of lichen, bits of succulents. I wanted it to be immediately stunning, but I also wanted it to reward close observation, because that's how I best love experiencing the natural world.

Here's what went into it, beyond the structural elements. Unless otherwise specified, I got all the live plants at Swanson's and Sky Nursery. Note that the moss and lichen can be gathered and stored dry, then revived with a quick soak when you're ready to use them.

The Moss Sampler Set from Moss Acres, plus more varieties of moss from anywhere people won't miss it. Golden Spikemoss from the nursery is lovely. San Juan Island moss is especially plush and awesome. (Just don't take too much from the same place!)

Lichen bits of all sorts, most easily found after a wind storm

Soft Shield Fern

Platt's Black Brass Buttons

Red Hook Sedge 'Belinda's Find'

Heather 'Wickwar Flame'

Cyclamen 'Speedy White'

Veronica 'Georgia Blue'

Muscari 'Blue Magic'

Albuca spiralis 'Frizzle Sizzle'

Grevillea, berzelia, and a variety of Protea from Resendiz Bros. (via the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market)

I've probably forgotten some bits, but these are the ones that really made the cake work.

I'd love to hear what you thought of it!

Mari's Instagram

Sometimes before I crawl in, I take one last look at the night garden through the screen.

We’ve hit peak cherry tomato in the balcony pots! They’re underplanted with basil, so it’s prime time for caprese salads with those baby mozzarella balls.
Hope you have some delicious weekend plans, too! 🍅I’m excited to be sticking closer to home after spending last weekend on the island (and a busy work week).

My best guess is hawk. Found this one in our future garden and had to take it home.
#orcasisland #feathers

Crab family portrait. Hard to get one where everyone’s smiling, but I think we did it.
#orcasisland #sanjuanislands

Last night on the land with @deckled and V felt just right.
Friday night, rain we didn’t expect started at about 1:30, so loud against the tent it kept us up for hours. Jon heroically ran outside to cover our gear, and we got enough rest to hike and kayak around Cascade Lake yesterday. By evening, we were ready for this spectacular sunset and a night of easy sleep. By the time I woke up, I felt better than I had in weeks.
It’s amazing how less than 48 hours on #orcasisland can completely reset your equilibrium.

Sol and Luna, longing for the moment I stop planting and carry them (one by one) around the garden, so they can taste their favorite grasses without escaping into the wider world. Sol purrs. Luna’s heart beats very fast. I always feel a little guilty shutting them back in, even though I know it’s for the best.

The Nootka roses are in bloom right now on Mount Constitution. One of the very best places to sit and take in the world.
#orcasisland #sanjuanislands #pnw

Everything is illuminated. Golden hour in the garden with @deckled. ✨💦

Our climbing roses exploded into bloom this week! Last year they bloomed until Thanksgiving. I love how they look against the brick from next door—in fact, I bought this townhouse in part because I was imagining this very scene. Always amazing to imagine something beautiful and make it happen. 🌿
Hope you get to create or enjoy beauty this weekend!
🌱
#gardenlife #plants #roses #plantsofinstagram #plantsmakepeoplehappy #gardening

Good night, sweet garden. Wish I could have played with you today.
Here’s the view from our bedroom balcony. I spend most of my waking life in an office downtown, in meetings and spreadsheets and documents. I believe in my work. But it’s also in service of a larger dream of someday spending more time with plants. I know many of you do the same, whether it’s for plants or your art or a different kind of creative freedom. May all of us live that dream someday.
#mygarden #plants #plantsofinstagram #seattlegarden #gardenlife #garden #gardening #gardeningmakesmehappy